I’ve lost count of the times I’ve hurtled out of this tube exit heading off to a meeting or a gig – and there’s certainly been a few times I’ve staggered in to catch the last tube – but the old Tottenham Court Road tube station entrance has now closed forever.

The entrance has been replaced by this shiny new version on the corner of Charing Cross Road and Oxford Street and is seen having its final touches taken care of over the weekend in preparation for the opening.

Crossrail is working alongside TfL on a £1bn transformation of Tottenham Court Road Station, the biggest transport investment in the West End for decades.

Built over 100 years ago as two separate tube stations, Tottenham Court Road was not designed to cope with the almost 150,000 passenger journeys that are now made through the station every day. With the expected rise in passenger numbers interchanging between London Underground services and Crossrail in 2018, the existing station is being upgraded to meet the expected rise in demand for this key central London station for years to come.

Alongside the upgrade of the existing tube station, Crossrail is building a new station the length of three football pitches four storeys underground. A new street level ticket hall will be constructed at Dean Street, with the station box continuing five levels below ground at a depth of around 25m, providing access to the new Crossrail platforms.

Buildings have been demolished from the area bounded by Dean Street, Diadem Court, Great Chapel Street and Oxford Street to make way for the modern looking ticket hall.